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Democratic Group’s Proposal: Give Each Student a Kindle

Some influential members of the Democratic Party want to give electronic reading devices to every student in the country.

Mario Tama/Getty ImagesAmazon’s Kindle 2.

Amazon.com should like the name of their proposal: “A Kindle in Every Backpack: A Proposal for eTextbooks in American Schools,” by the Democratic Leadership Council, a left-leaning think tank, was published on the group’s Web site Tuesday.

Its authors argue that government should furnish each student in the country with a digital reading device, which would allow textbooks to be cheaply distributed and updated, and allow teachers to tailor an interactive curriculum that effectively competes for the attention of their students in the digital age.

“We shouldn’t wait a decade or two to begin to achieve what is inevitable — an education system where each American schoolchild has an eTextbook, like Amazon’s Kindle, loaded with the most up-to-date and interactive teaching materials and texts available,” the paper argues. “The ‘Kindle in every backpack’ concept isn’t just an educational gimmick—it could improve education quality and save money.”

The authors of the paper have ties to the Obama administration and influence within the Democratic Party. Thomas Z. Freedman, the primary author, is a council fellow and a former senior adviser to President Clinton who served on the Obama-Biden transition team. Blair Levin, another Obama transition team member, also worked on the paper but left before it was published to join the Federal Communications Commission to work on broadband issues.

The paper proposes a year-long pilot program, during which some 400,000 students would receive reading devices. If judged a success, the program would be gradually scaled up to include the entire student population within four years. They estimate such a project would cost about $9 billion more than the amount spent to acquire print textbooks.

Such a commitment by government, they speculate, would increase competition among device makers and drive down the cost of hardware and electronic textbooks. Since e-textbooks are considerably cheaper than paper versions, they project $700 million in annual savings over traditional textbook purchases by the fifth year of the project.

Of course, such an upfront government outlay in these economic times seems unlikely. Mr. Freedman acknowledges that, but believes the federal government should act, particularly since e-books will inevitably migrate into students’ hands anyway.

“There are two crucial questions. Will this improve the educational experience for children, and is this budget neutral, does it cost money or save money?” he said. “There are positive indications in both of those categories that are worth investigating further.”

I, a die-hard Democrat, will vote for no Democrat who supports putting a Kindle in every backpack. Why don’t we wait and see if the Kindle, which has already failed numerous times, catches on with adults. Why don’t we wait and see if people like reading on screens. (The Kindle makes me feel seasick.) For that matter, let’s see if children like reading children’s books on Kindle. I doubt they will, given its homogeneous font and, to my knowledge, lack of pictures.

Most of all, I’m very disturbed that the Obama administration would even consider promoting a device that will put all texts into one template. Has Obama thought of how anti- and un-democratic this is? Why should Amazon be controlling all that we read? Without printed books, whose multiple editions allow for comparison, I predict that we’re going to encounter much censorship in e-books. We will rarely even know this, as we’ll all essentially be reading the exact same book. A million e-book editions of Jane Eyre is the equivalent of one paper copy of Jane Eyre. Any new book printed solely in electronic format, no matter how many times it is downloaded, is the same as a press printing one copy of that book. If that e-book is censored, we’d have a hard time knowing it, whereas a censored e-copy of Jane Eyre can easily be detected when compared to the scores of editions printed of Jane Eyre since its first publication.

Before Obama gets behind any homogenizing reading device, he better think about that.

Lisa, this is an independent think tank, not the Obama administration. Digitial books are the future, I know you still spin vinyl albums and get the times at the newstand, but you are a dying breed. E-books will allow for much more distribution of material – not less. Jane Eyre needs to seels tens of thousands of copies to be printed, where an e-book can be profitable at a couple of dozen. Just like independent music is much more widely available becasue of itunes, so will the the written word. Now go buy an I-Pod and get with it- the times have changed.

Its unfortunate that the authors of the report named the Kindle device rather than a more neutral term like e-textbook. The proposal does, however, have a great deal of merit. The public school system is perennially a generation behind the business world in its deployment of technology. That most students are using textbooks that are decades old is just one symptom of this pervasive situation. The report seems mypoic therefore not only in its apparent leap to a single solution (kindle), but in its failure to provide a vision for addressing the larger and more intractable challenges that face public education in the US.

I’m frustrated by the new trend towards the quasi-monopilization of content channels. There used to be lots of places to buy CDs and lots of was to listen to them. These options weren’t supplanted by “digital music” in general, which would be okay, but essentially by one company, Apple, through iTunes (and iPods, etc.) Same with books – there is no such thing as a “e-book reader” in general, there is Amazon Kindle (yes I know Sony theoretically makes one too, who can even name it?) There may be merit to this idea but it makes no sense to pursue it until there is real competition in the market. Otherwise it’s just a massive transfer of funds from taxpayers to Amazon.

I think it is a fine idea. I would just make sure that these devices are primarily designed to be used for reading. Maybe with a very limited amount of web use. I can already see kids using all-purpose devices for apps or some other triviality. Kids need to be focused. Giving them giant size versions of I-Pods would not be a good idea in my opinion. They would be too distracted from doing schoolwork.

I would bid out multi-year contracts so that Amazon, Sony, or other companies would be hard at work to design the best, not necessarily the prettiest, e-readers possible and to keep prices down.

I also am horrified at the use of the Kindle trademark in this otherwise sensible proposal. The proposal itself does not mandate the Kindle specifically, so why give Amazon free advertising in the title? That issue aside, moving textbooks onto electronic media is entirely logical. It should be taken one step at a time and all logistical and copyright issues must be resolved, not least of which is the issue of proprietary formats. Personally, I would prioritize the students’ rights to an education. They should be able to read their textbooks on whatever device they happen to have access to – be it the standard issue e-reader, a PDA, or the home computer.

I agree that mentioning a specific model like the Kindle, rather than the type of device, is ill-advised. There are several e-book reader brands out there. Also, one can read e-books on different types of devices, and e-book readers might not be the optimal choice. Since the cost of an e-book reader is almost the same as a netbook (costs dropping), why not provide each student with a light-weight, ultra-mobile laptop, which would provide tremendously greater educational utility – access to e-books; web-based content; school email; use for homework, reports, projects for all subjects. Of course, paying the bill is still an issue either way.

This is one of the great ideas I’ve ever seen. I have to spend nearly 1000$ each year for 4 year studying in University. I reckon Publishers must make thousands of dollars from me and multi million dollars from a lot of students who have to pay dumb BOOK TAX.

The DLC is not “left “leaning. Most of its funding comes from corporate sponsors, and its a haven for conservative dems such as Ben Nelson and Zell Miller who relish at undermining any type of “left” leaning agenda.

I’ve never had to worry about dropping a book and having it break in such a way that I couldn’t read any more books.

If I lose or otherwise misplace a book, I can still read other books.

None of my books on my shelves have any sort of physical copy protection on them.

If any of my books get wet, they are easily dried off. Some of the pages may wrinkle. But the books are still usable.

None of the books I’ve read had a “screen” that gets scratched or broken. That’s because none of them has a screen.

Some of the books on my shelf, including college books, are decades old. There are no compatibility problems getting them to “work”.

It is very easy to open a book so that items on facing pages are both viewed at the same time. This is very handy with maps and other graphics. Not sure if that can be done on a small “kindle-ish” device.

Am I a Luddite? Maybe, but after almost 30 years in MIS / IS / IT and automation, I know a little bit about “not-always-appropriate” technology. (Electronic voting is, at the moment, only one prominent example. Anyone out there trying to read computer files written with Wordstar on 5.25″ floppy disks?)

I agree that the cost of college textbooks is insane. However, a good textbook that lasts decades can provide the owner with benefits that far outweigh the original cost.

I am about to print out the article and let my sixth graders next year write persuasive essays about the positives and negitives of using a kindle. Personally, I think the concept is great- You would not beleive the amount of books the sixth graders have to carry around. There are some advantages but a lot of negitives that have to be worked out to make it work.

All these comments against this recommendation lack a true understanding of the Kindle. First of all Amazon’s intentions are to make the same ebook available to all devices ranging from the iphone to other cell phones to laptops. This fact, thus transcends marriage to a specific device. Anyone who has investigated ebook readers understands that Amazon is generations ahead of Sony or any other ebook manufacturer. The value of the Kindle is not just the hardware itself but the entire mesh of Amazon.com, wireless access provided free of charge and the seamless integration between multiple devices and the ebook. I have no interest in creating a monopoly for Amazon but why should the best design and concept not be rewarded?

I don’t like the idea of giving every student a reading device today. The Kindle is only the foretaste of something greater, more durable, reliable, and multifaceted on the horizon. Interactivity is the key to learning, and the Kindle is a reading device, and ONLY a reading device. It also happens to be tied only to Amazon. I LOVE my Kindle…think it’s the coolest thing ever. I LOVE Amazon for developing it. But let’s wait and see what technologies lie just over the horizon before we commit to putting one in every backpack. Wouldn’t it be better, for example, to give every kid a cheap netbook? Something to surf, do research, write papers, access web applications, etc.? We’re probably less than 3 years away from sub-$200 netbook computers with an always on, free broadband connection, a net-based OS and all net-based applications and storage. THAT is what every student needs. And I’m not a democrat, either.

What really is disappointing is that once again these politicians are looking to leave individuals with disabilities at a severe disadvantage… if they had any brains whatsoever, they would realize that 10% of the population are voting individuals with disabilities, many of whom would be unable to access these devices. Why is it that these issues are always an afterthought, and copyright is always the main discussion? I say to hell with copyright issues, think of the students who require access to texts they are unable to gain access to now, and work towards a universal design that will suit all people, regardless of their ability to flip a page, push a button, or see the text written on either a piece of paper or a 7″ screen.

I think you’d better make sure Kindle is providing the optimum learning experience for students before investing that kind of money in this technology. I support the Kindle but I don’t want to see any one device by one manufacturer singled out as the answer to all needs.

Also I bristle at those who lump all publishers together. There are plenty of book publishers out there who don’t follow the textbook model of profits. Not every publisher gouges consumers. I’d like to see one other survivable business that relies on its product being fully returnable. For that you can blame the 800-lb gorilla retailers: B&N, Borders, and, indeed, Amazon.

I think this is a fantsic idea. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive. The publishers justify paying borderline-criminal amounts for new texbooks because they say that they’ve been updated… but the truth is that the changes from version to version are extreamely minimal. With an ebook reader, you don’t have to buy a brand new book just because they’ve changed 5 sentences; you can just update it. And those of you complaining about the screens have probably not researched it; the Kindle’s (and some other eBook-readers) screen’s were specifically designed to look exactly like ink on paper, and it has no backlighting so there’s no eye-strain at all; it’s apperntly just like normal paper. It’s called e-ink. Also, this will be good for blind students, because the Kindle can read books out-loud (though book publishers seem bound to cripple this), and it can also make the text bigger for students with poor vision. I wonder what eBook reader they would choose… yes, probably the Kindle, as it’s the most well-known, can download books directly from the Kindle, has the ability to read books aloud, and has the biggest selection of books. But maybe that will change. Point is, an eBook reader for every studnet would be a welcome change. I look forward to seeing how this develops.

We need to embrace new technology. But a locked down and proprietary device like the Kindle is not the way to go.
Students should be using 10 inch netbooks (similary price as the kindle) that are open to all content, not just the content from Amazon. The kindle require users to pay to even read blogs.

Incredible; cart before horse it seems, but let’s see what the parameters are to this kindle giveaway.

Are they even sure that these kids pass basic 3R’s yet?
Let the kids pass that, and show that they have an interest in Reading, ok, then introduce the technology and the many other possibilities that technology can open up.

But, an ereader in itself will not engender the love of prose or poetry, or help with a well constructed sentence.

Excuse me the Democratic Leadership Council is a RIGHT-LEANING Democratic group SPECIFICALLY founded to move the Democratic Party to the RIGHT. So says it’s founder Al From and it’s website said for many years-until recently.

Remeber the DLC supported all the financial deregulation that caused our economic collapse and the Iraq war.

Please correct your story.

Plus this will make a bundle for Amazon-a typical DLC strategy to use government to benefit corporations first with kids a distant second, if at all.

Why can’t we offer cheap books like all the OTHER countries who beat us in education. An investigation of the academic book market would be far more effective than this.

We still can’t get computers into every school in America, or even CHALK-yes my teacher had to buy it out of his pocket- so how are you going to give every kid an EXPENSIVE Kindle?

How about real solutions instead of using government to redistribute taxpayer wealth to corporations while using our kids as an excuse.

If you can’t even get chalk into every kid’s classroom how can you give every kid a Kindle?

I couldn’t even get some of my college professors to let classmates use books that are fully uploaded to Google, like Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, and we want second-graders to have a Kindle?

What about the health affects from reading so much from digital text? What about kids that go to school, whose family can afford to only feed them one meal a day? Are those children going to be given a Kindle to do homework with and still be eating tablespoons of honey to forget their rumbling stomachs?

I have a kindle on which I read articles, fiction and light non-fiction all the time. I would not want to use it for text books. It simple doesn’t display tables well. And when you have to go back and forth, as is often the case in math and science textbooks to understand formulas etc, it is cumbersome and one can get easily lost.